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McAfee offers biometric security for cloud storage

- May 14, 2013

McAfee Inc. is rolling out a product that will secure files stored in the public cloud with the use of biometric authentication.

LiveSafe will provide users with 1 GB of online storage that can be accessed via voice or facial recognition or with the use of a personal identification number (PIN).I works on smart phones, PCs and tablet devices.

The software is available on subscription basis for $19.99 for 12 months on new PCs. After that, users need to pay $79.99 per year. For users that want to load the software onto existing PCs, the 12-month subscription cost is $79.99.

McAfee said the biometric features are linked to anti-theft and identity protection features in laptops with Intel chips for an added layer of security.

In PCs, the product will require a Webcam and an Intel processor for voice and facial recognition.

LiveSafe works with Android and Apple iOS operating systems but Apple PCs and mobile devices equipped with Advance Micro Devices’ x86 processors may not be able to run some of the biometric functions. In such cases, users can access their files by using a PIN code.

Last week, McAfee also announced the release of its Network Security Platform NS series. It is a new network intrusion prevention system (IPS) based on Intel technology.

The new IPS has a throughput of 40 Gbps. The NS series is McAfee’s first IPS hardware platform based in Intel technology.

The NS series’ 40 Gbps throughput is critical, according to Pat Calhoun, senior VP of network security at McAfee.

“The IPS industry has been talking about next generation IPS functionality for several years now, but when scalability tests are run, these services are almost always disabled, sacrificing security for throughout,” he said. “The next generation IPS services, such as application visibility, situational and behaviioural analysis, are needed to address today’s advance threats.”